THE HINGE OF HISTORY

   Then all at once the Almighty awakened as though He had been asleep. Like a Mighty man He arose, roaring into action! He blasted into battle, driving back every foe, defeating them in disgrace for time and eternity. Ps. 78:65-66 TPT.

   In John twelve, Jesus tells his disciples “Now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified. Let me make this clear; A single grain of wheat will never be more than a single grain of wheat unless it drops into the ground and dies. Because then it sprouts and produces a great harvest of wheat—all because one grain died.”

   “The person who loves his life and pampers himself will miss true life! But the one who detaches his life from this world and abandons himself to Me, will find true life and enjoy it forever! If you want to be my disciple, follow Me and you will go where I am going. And if you truly follow Me as My disciple, the Father will shower His favor upon your life.” John 12:23-26

   We tend to think that to be glorified and exalted is something glorious and glamorous and we chase after it—seeking prominence and power. But the truth of what Jesus is saying is He will be glorified and exalted by laying down His life. Jesus wasn’t talking about staying on the earth and reigning as King, He was talking about dying on the cross.

   New life cannot sprout up unless the old life dies–as in “old wine skins cannot hold new wine”! Unless we are willing to lay down our lives at the feet of Jesus, broken and surrendered, submitting to His will and His plans, we will never be more than what we are right now. Death always precedes resurrection! We are the product of Jesus Christ, the One grain who offered His life so that a great harvest of seeds might spring forth. As we separate ourselves from the world and abandon ourselves to Him, only then will we find true life!

   Jesus willingly surrendered to the Father, even though it was not an easy task for Him. But “because His heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be His, He endure the agony of the cross.” His heart was to honor and obey the will of His Father, and to accomplish and fulfill the purpose for which He came. “Even though I am torn within, and My soul is in turmoil, I will not ask the Father to rescue Me from this hour of Trial. For I have come to fulfill My purpose—to offer Myself to God. So Father, bring glory to Your name!” John 12:27 TPT

Then Jesus told them, “From this moment on, everything in this world is about to change, for the ruler of this dark world will be overthrown. And I will do this when I am lifted up off the ground and when I draw the hearts of people to gather them to Me.” He said this to indicate that He would die by being lifted up on the cross.” John 12:31-33 TPT

  “the time of judging the world (system) has come.” The judging of the world is the overthrow of the kingdom of darkness. The preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ is passing a sentence of judgment on this fallen world and declaring treason in the kingdom of darkness. Everything changes because of the cross-the hinge of history.”

-Notes on John 12:31-from The Passion Translation

   We are literally at a hinge in history! From this moment on, everything in this world is about to change! Jesus is being lifted up and He’s drawing the hearts of the people to Himself! Our glorious Lord is not judging His kids, He has already judged the kingdom of darkness, and the world system, and now He is making wrong things right. The wicked will not endure the day of judgment, for God will not defend them. Nothing they do will succeed or endure for long, for they have no part with those who walk in truth. Ps. 1:5 TPT

   Jesus taught a parable about wheat and tares; “Heaven’s kingdom realm can be compared to a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But at night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and planted poisonous weeds among the wheat and ran away. When the wheat sprouted and bore grain, the weeds also appeared. So the farmer’s hired hands came to him and said, ‘Sir, wasn’t that good seed that you sowed in the field? Where did all these weeds come from?’

   “He answered, ‘This has to be the work of an enemy!’

   “They replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather up all the weeds?’

   “’No,’ he said. ‘If you pull out the weeds you might uproot the wheat at the same time. You must allow them both to grow together until the time of harvest. At that time, I’ll tell my harvesters to make sure they gather the weeds first and tie them all in bundles to be burned. Then they will harvest the wheat and put it into my barn.’” Matt. 13:24-30 TPT

   We are not only witnessing a miraculous, historical event in our time, we are also getting to be a part of it. God’s people have been awakened and He is releasing the voices that have been stifled and muzzled. He is breaking your voice out of its box and it is going to resound louder than ever as we loudly and confidently proclaim, “Look! Here He comes! The Lord and judge of all the earth! He’s coming to make things right and to do it fair and square. And everyone will see that He does all things well!” Ps. 98:9 TPT

   There has been such a rise within our hearts that says, “No more!” A provoking of a holy indignation that has given rise to voices that has been silenced for way too long! The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Matt. 11:12

“For tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!” James 5:16TPT

   Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they shout for joy; for they will see face to face the return of the Lord to Zion. The Lord has bared His holy arm (His infinite power) before the eyes of all the nations (revealing Himself as the One by Whom Israel is redeemed from captivity), that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God. Is. 52:8,10 AMP

      So many things look uncertain and unsettled and if we focus on the things in the natural the spirit of fear can easily ensnare us. Things do not look anything like we thought it would or should, so don’t be offended at how the Lord works this out. “For His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways.” He knows what He is doing! We just need to “trust Him with all of our heart and lean not on our own understanding”. Cling tightly to what He has told us, for “I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me.” Acts 27:25

   There is no more sitting on the sidelines, for if we want to be His disciples, we must follow Him and go where He is going, even if it doesn’t look like we thought it would.

   NOW is the time of the wheat and the tares and its harvest time!

   But then I remember that You, O Lord, still sit enthroned as King over all! The fame of Your name will be revealed to every generation. I know You are about to arise and show Your tender love to Zion. Now is the time, Lord, for your compassion and mercy to be poured out—the appointed time has come for Your prophetic promises to be fulfilled! Ps. 102:12-13 TPT